The Jesus Wife Papyrus – Sound Advice on Next Steps

Concerning the uproar surrounding the recently discovered “Jesus Wife papyrus”, my friend Prof. Zvi Koren who is the Director of The Edelstein Center for the Analysis of Ancient Artifacts at Shenkar College in Ramat-Gan, Israel, has suggested the following scientific tests for the purpose of authenticating the artifact:

“1. C-14: Since the C-14 test is destructive, one should obviously do it on part of the papyrus that does not contain any writing whatsoever. (One can check the area under different lighting conditions to detect where the blanks are e.g., UV, infrared, etc.) I’m not sure as to the minimum sample size that’s needed, it’s very small, but I’m pretty sure that there is enough of it in the sample.

2. Of course, even if the papyrus is ancient, it does not automatically mean that the writing is ancient. Theoretically, if one wanted to forge it in modern times, one could write on an old papyrus.

3. So, if the papyrus turns out to be ‘old’, then two things need to be further checked: the ink AND the writing. So, next …

4. The constitution of the ink pigment should be checked and compared with other documented ink writings on papyrus from that time period. The pigment constituting the ink will probably yield natural materials, but an elemental analysis of the minor components might be relevant.

5. The writing itself needs to be checked under a microscope, just like they do at police headquarters to see e.g., how deep into the papyrus the ink has penetrated or spread, and to compare it to other papyrus writings from the same period.”

Sound advice. I hope those in possession of the papyrus are now doing the science.